>>1837337
Maybe it could have worked, too.

But it didn't. The cyber-newtypes they'd put aboard a massive converted helium tanker collapsed the gas giant they had intended to test the technique on to the point of singularity, trapping themselves within the gravity well of the black hole they accidentally created which swiftly drew in material from the surrounding nebula. Their wordless psychic death-screams drawn out for months, perhaps even years in time, by the time dilation in that tortured region of spacetime. It's already driven one crew to madness, the crew of the derelict stealth ship you discovered which precipitated this whole sequence of events.

Now it's time to deal with Jupiter.

“We'll be entering the Oort cloud in thirty seconds,” Rossweisse reports. “How do you want to approach this?”

>Slow down, enter Jovian space at a reasonable pace.
>Decelerate late, bring us into Jovian space fairly hot.
>Loop us around Callisto, try to hide our drive signature.
>Other

>>1837340
>>Loop us around Callisto, try to hide our drive signature.

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>>1837340
>>Loop us around Callisto, try to hide our drive signature.
Sneeki breeki

>>1837340
>Slow down, enter Jovian space at a reasonable pace

>out of shower
>will start writing in a few minutes
Sorry for the delay, gents.

>oh, and gimme 3d10, DC 18, Crit 22, best of four

Rolled 3, 5, 8 = 16 (3d10)

>>1837409
work harder, slave!
I kid
>>1837418

Rolled 6, 9, 1 = 16 (3d10)

>>1837418
Welp, I'm in unfamiliar territory now. Only point of reference I would have is a level in one of the G Gen games with Io as the stage. And it's not like I could glean anything in it, since the dialogue was in weeb speak.

I reckon Io and Europa would have the most potential for supporting any military endeavor the Jovians may have planned. So those two could be the most fortified within this system.

Rolled 6, 2, 9 = 17 (3d10)

>>1837418

And the dice hate us as usual.

>waiting on that one last roll

Rolled 5, 1, 7 = 13 (3d10)

>>1837418

>>1837457
>>1837424
>>1837423
>>1837421
>all their base is Callisto confirmed

The last thread reminded me of your Kancolle quest, King...

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>>1837454
The Jovian system is still something of a mystery to most outsiders, since the Jovian communities are deeply suspicious and skeptical even of each other, forget about anyone who's not even Jovian. It's not even clear how strong of a military presence there is in the area, but given how territorial the locals are a good bet is that each colony puts a substantial amount of their resources into maintaining its own defense force.

Well, better not to take any chances.

“Change course, put us on a vector to sling around Callisto,” you decide. “Decelerate us as late as possible, try and hide our drive signature as much as possible.”

“And us?” Haman asks from aboard the Sadalahn.

“Match our maneuvers,” you order. “ALICE, I know you're not gonna like it, but please coordinate with the Sadalahn.”

When the time comes a few seconds later you and Rossweisse share the mental strain of a precise, intense maneuver with a ship that quite honestly wasn't designed for it. You manage to pull into a proper orbit around Callisto, shifting mass and density to create a pull on Sericea's stern as the moon's gravity slings your vessel around towards the inner moons.

“We're detecting several incoming vessels at long range,” Rossweisse reports nervously. “Uncertain as to whether they spotted us.”

“We're getting them too,” Haman agrees. “They're on a course towards Callisto, at speed. Contact in twenty-six minutes by our calculations.”

“Damn,” you curse. You hadn't wanted to risk an engagement this early...

>Bring us about, we'll engage the incoming ships. Keep the communications dark.
>Drop closer towards Callisto, switch to atmospheric flight, and find a crater to hide in.
>Spin up, head for Ganymede. It has a magnetic field and a thin atmosphere to hide in.
>Other?

>>1837558
Yeah, that was a thing for a while. I briefly considered a second crack at it, but I really would rather just leave it be.

Still may nod to it as long as I'm running quests though.

>>1837578
>>Drop closer towards Callisto, switch to atmospheric flight, and find a crater to hide in.
This is a sneaking mission!

>>1837588
fwiw I enjoyed it.

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>>1837578
>>Bring us about, we'll engage the incoming ships. Keep the communications dark.
>Other?
Think we can time an orbit sling around Callisto so that we catch the bogey's rear when they try to pass instead?

>>1837578
>Drop closer towards Callisto, switch to atmospheric flight, and find a crater to hide in.

Okay, warm those dice up.
>3d10, DC 17, Crit 22, best of three

Rolled 5, 1, 9 = 15 (3d10)

>>1837686

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Rolled 10, 2, 5 = 17 (3d10)

>>1837686

>>1837706
Well, Hamanposter, you at least got a pass this time.

Rolled 10, 3, 3 = 16 (3d10)

>>1837686

>writing

>>1837706
fuckin' Newtypes, man.
For both meanings of the phrase.

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Found this a couple days ago, thought it appropriate given my earlier mention of King's Kancolle quest and SoZ in general.

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>>1837750
“Let's try something here,” you suggest, scratching your chin in thought. “Let's drop in closer to Callisto's surface and do a slow orbit. Stay close to the moon itself and see if the patrol passes. If it seems military maybe we could get in astern of them.”

Sericea and Sadalahn both make a dive in tandem for the massive ball of rock and ice, shining bright in the bottoms of its many impact craters. At a low enough altitude the ship's external sensors actually detect a tenuous atmosphere, somewhat hazy as it sublimates directly from the icy patches which cover Callisto's surface.

“Keep low,” you order. “Increase speed to flank.”

“Sadalahn is matching velocity,” ALICE reports.

“We'll be moving around to Callisto's dark side in ten minutes,” Rossweisse eventually announces. “Shall I order dark running?”

“Do it,” you agree. “Relay the message to Haman.”

Right on time, Sericea's sensors pick up three cruiser-sized ships at speed moving past Callisto. They don't deviate from their course, but you do get a good long-range image of them and spot at least three triple emplacements of beam cannons. Were it not for the massive rail cannon you'd say each one outgunned Sericea on its own, and they're certainly large enough to serve as mobile suit carriers.

Good thing we have the Sadalahn along with us, these Jovian types don't mess around.

“Damn right they don't,” you mutter. “If there's any sense at all to their designs there'd be at least one more turret on each of 'em that we didn't see on that flyby.”

“They'll be out of sensor range in ten minutes,” Rossweisse tells you. “Preparing a visual signal for Haman and her crew.”

A little more than ten minutes your partner flashes a high-intensity signal light at Sadalahn, which returns the signal before reestablishing communications.

“That was close,” Haman sighs. “They'd have given us a good fight if they'd noticed us.”

“Yeah, not exactly a fortuitous start to things,” you shake your head. “I want to...”

>Track back along their course, see if we can't find a colony or operational base.
>Head in-system, see if we can't find a civilian community.
>Move in towards Ganymede, use it to hide while we launch probes.
>See if we can't isolate a civilian communications frequency.
>Other?

>>1837904
>>Track back along their course, see if we can't find a colony or operational base.

>>1837904
>>Track back along their course, see if we can't find a colony or operational base.
>See if we can't isolate a civilian communications frequency.
I do not think either of these are mutually exclusive

Well, a third vote in the next two minutes or so won't change the results, so I'll get started. Gimme 3d10 for that, taking the best of three, no set DC

Rolled 5, 1, 10 = 16 (3d10)

>>1837963

>will probably be eating some time relatively soon

Rolled 3, 8, 7 = 18 (3d10)

>>1837963

>am eating, if no third roll by the time I'm done I'll get started writing with two

Rolled 7, 4, 9 = 20 (3d10)

I'll roll again just to get this show on the road.

>>1838148
Alright, cool. Will write once dinner is done.

>>1838163
You and Rossweisse agree that the best course would be to track the three warships back along their course to try and find something resembling a colony, or perhaps a military base from which you can at least begin to judge the strength of the Jovian spacefleet. While you're at it you've also agreed to sweep the regular communication bands to try and isolate any useful channels to listen in on in hopes that you can tease out the most likely locations of military bases, task forces, and colonies.

“We should start at UHF,” Rossweisse suggests, meaning the high frequency bands which used to be dedicated to military aircraft use back on Earth.

“Agreed,” Haman replies immediately. “We'll sweep down from 399, you sweep up from 225.”

“ALICE, please scan for any recognizable patterns,” Rossweisse requests as Sericea's surveillance systems snap into operation.

It takes barely five minutes for the AI to get back to you. “Captains, I have detected a transmission within the UHF-AM band, at 254 MHz.”

“Put it through,” you order, immediately hearing a voice somewhere amid a sea of static.

“Cut our forward thrust, let's drop our emissions as low as possible,” you decide, thinking that perhaps localized Minovsky particle emissions from your own engines and reactors could be scrambling the transmission you're trying to listen in on.

“Matching thruster reductions,” Haman reports. “Is it clearing up for you?”

“A little,” you scowl. “ALICE, can you do something about...”

After a slight popping sound the static disappears, and the voice takes on a decidedly mechanical tone. The man on the transmitting end is speaking in brevity code, making reference to vehicles and possibly other receiving sets that you have no way of knowing details of. But it certainly does sound like you've struck an official traffic control channel.

>Can you trace the origin of the signal?
>Continue following the trail of the patrol ships.
>One receiving code has come up a few times. Find it.
>Other?

>>1838460
>>Can you trace the origin of the signal?
>>Continue following the trail of the patrol ships.

So... nobody else?

>>1838554
give it 5more min?

>>1838460
>>Can you trace the origin of the signal?
>>Continue following the trail of the patrol ships.

>>1838567
Yeah, sure. SoZ moves slow.

>>1838589
Which is a shame, given how popular the original was.

>>1838460
>>Can you trace the origin of the signal?
>>One receiving code has come up a few times. Find it.
Was grabbing a bite.

>>1838608
Fair play.
>writing

>>1838616
Also I need another roll
>3d10, DC 18, no crit

Rolled 9, 10, 9 = 28 (3d10)

>>1838636

>>1838638
...ok then.

Rolled 8, 6, 5 = 19 (3d10)

>>1838636
Roll

>>1838638
Tracked, deciphered, and false-signaled.

>>1838638
Hell of a time for no crit.

>>1838650
yeah, RIP.
where was that roll earlier?

>>1838654
4chan dice is like a cat. It knows when you want something from it and goes out if its way to deny you.

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>>1838662

>>1838662
“Can you trace the origin of that signal?” you ask aloud.

“I can't,” Rossweisse admits. “ALICE?”

“It may take some time,” the AI replies carefully, “but it would be much easier if we had a second or even a third receiver to rely on.”

“Then we can fire off a couple of receivers, right?” you wonder, thinking about the missiles carried within Sericea's many hull-mounted tubes.

“We can probably spare one,” Rossweisse admits, “but it would be easier to take multiple estimates while on our current course.”

“The we'll do both,” you decide. “Sis, keep track of that probe for us, will you?”

I'm so excited.

“Yeah well, if you had a complaint you could've spoken sooner.”

No, it's a fine plan. I was just napping.

“Do you even need sleep?” Honestly, the thought hasn't really occurred to you. For the most part Catrina has always been active when you've been awake, and you can't say much about when you've been asleep.

It's easier on your brain if I rest when I'm not needed. This is my 'forever home', no sense making a mess of the place.

You sigh at the notion. “That's thoughtful of you.”

You're welcome.

Sericea and Sadalahn continue along your present course, carefully retracing the path of the three patrol ships for another half hour while Catrina and ALICE take recordings every five minutes. Finally your sister alerts you.

It's a planetoid.

“The transmissions seem to be coming from Europa,” ALICE explains, highlighting a tiny point of flickering light on Sericea's HUD.

“That must make Europa the site of their traffic control,” Haman declares. “Possibly even the major seat of power.”
>1/2

>>1838723
“The Galileo missions showed that Io gets a lethal dose of ionizing radiation every day,” Rossweisse informs you, “so it makes sense that the colony clusters would be placed outside that major belt of high-energy radiation. And Europa has plenty of water, which Io lacks and any colony cluster could make use of.”

“How do you know all this?” you ask, bemused at her snap recollection.

“I read.”

You roll your eyes at the jab. “Okay, bookworm. So tell me this, do we break off our current course or make for Europa?”

“That's up to you,” Rossweisse shrugs, passing off authority to make the decision. “Either plan could yield results, or it could land us in the middle of a Jovian military force.”

>Europa
>Remain on course

>>1838741
>>Remain on course
we only have two ships, this seems safer.

>>1838741
>>Remain on course

>>1838741
>>Remain on course

>>1838741
“Steady as she goes, Rossweisse,” you sigh, settling into your seat. “Steady as she goes.”

“You're not planning to move in on Europa?” Haman asks incredulously. “We've just figured out where the Jovians are at and you're plotting a course for... what, exactly?”

“We'll find out when we get there,” you admit. “But my guess is it'll be a little easier to handle than if we run into some sort of 'home fleet' with just two ships.”

“Two of the finest ships in service!” Haman counters.

“That we know of,” you caution her. “Let's say they have the other five Seven-class ships, and they're as heavily armed as Nagato. What then?”

Haman is quiet for a moment. “I hate this.”

“So do I,” you tell her softly. “But dammit Haman, I just don't believe that Jupiter would be caught flat-footed with no heavy capital ships. It just defies belief. So I want to take this slow, learn what we can from whatever we find on the end of this vector we're following, and proceed from there.”

After a moment, you get the acknowledgment you were waiting for. “Agreed. Sadalahn will be at your eight-eight, port aft.”

>3d10, dc 18, crit 21
>best of four is okay, since your rolls haven't been so hot tonight

Rolled 6, 10, 3 = 19 (3d10)

>>1838824

Rolled 9, 6, 6 = 21 (3d10)

>>1838824

>>1838882
nice, anon!

>>1838824
Almost an hour of slow, deliberate cruising later, Sericea's sensors start to blare.

“Three large contacts dead ahead!” Rossweisse calls out. “Cruisers at a range of thirty thousand kilometers. I can't be certain whether they've spotted us or not.”

“What class?” you ask in response. Depending on her answer you could be looking at as few as twelve mobile suits of unknown type, or as many as thirty.”

“They scan as... that's not right,” Rossweisse frowns, uncharacteristically skeptical of her readings. “They scan as Lombardia-class.”

“Wasn't that a one-off?” you ask, equally skeptical.

“Apparently Jupiter has been building them based on Titans data,” Haman suggests. “So correct me if I'm wrong, six M-particle cannons and eight mobile suits standard?”

“That sounds about right,” you reply. “What's your compliment aboard Sadalahn?”

“Five,” she replies, “including my own personal machine.”

“So one and a guard unit,” you summarize. “Guns?”

“Eight barrels,” she informs you. “They still have the advantage on us better than two to one.”

“Don't count our big gun out just yet,” Rossweisse grumbles. “Remember, a ferrous slug doesn't care about beam chaff.”

“Point,” Haman agrees. “We have the advantage at ship-to-ship distances. As soon as we get into mobile suit range we'll be overrun, even with our PD systems at full.”

>Agreed. We should keep the enemy cruisers at a distance, make them try to close with us.
>If we act aggressively they may try to disengage, Rossweisse can hit them with the railgun as they do
>We also have several of the strongest mobile suits ever built. Open with a barrage to cover an MS assault.
>Other?

>>1838941
>>We also have several of the strongest mobile suits ever built. Open with a barrage to cover an MS assault.
MS combat is our bread and butter, we've not had enough of that lately.
Wonder if Haman's gotten dull?

>>1838941
>>Agreed. We should keep the enemy cruisers at a distance, make them try to close with us.

>since this is an important decision, I'll be back in another 15 minutes
>feel free to discuss the merits of various plans

If it's a numbers game and we have the range, whittling them down by a bit evens out the odds.

Oh yeah, do we still keep a salvo of psycommu missiles? We'll be more precise than our opponents with those.

Are we going in and starting a fight right now?
Weren't we going to try to talk with the Jovian government to get them to see sense?

>>1839040
Has a point, I'm good with this.
Still want to see if Haman's lost her touch, though.

>>1839042
This IS a fair point. The situation has them moving three cruisers in your direction, but aside from that and the reputation there'd be little to indicate direct aggression.

eh fuck it
[x] other
Open comms, try to hail 'em.

>>1839042
>>1839065
Alright, I'll take some of that.

Within reasonable distance to stave off any retaliatory or first strike capabilities, of course.

>>1838941
>Other
Open comms and hail them.

>"Hello there! We're from the Colony Transit Fleet, and we appear to be lost! Can you direct us to someone with the authority to sign international treaties?"
But no, don't be snarky like this. The Jovians are unlikely to find anything amusing.

>>1839079
snrk

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>>1839060
“Keep them at a distance,” you decide. “Rossweisse, you talk good and you're not going to be in an MS cockpit in the next sixty seconds. Talk to the Jovian morons and see what they want. Pipe it through down to my cockpit.”

“Can do,” Rossweisse nods. “Minimum standoff distance?”

“Ten thousand kilometers,” you decide. “You getting that Sadalahn?”

“Loud and clear, Sericea,” a different voice responds. Haman must already be halfway to her ship's flight deck... as simple as this would be if the Jovians just stood down you have to admit you'd miss the chance to see Haman's new mobile suit design. You've heard rumors that she had some of the technicians aboard the Nagato build it for her to precise specifications.

You haul ass down to your own hangars, where you find Bianca in coveralls with a clipboard in hand... or at least half of her is in coveralls.

“You know those are supposed to cover your arms and stomach, too?” you quip.

She shrugs, glancing down at her own extensively-tattooed skin. “Yeah, it got stuffy though.”

“Fair enough,” you allow. “We ready to go?”

“Even had the techies change the oil for you. Couldn't get the tire pressure indicator to go off though.”

“We'll get them rotated out when we're in port,” you sigh, kicking off the deck towards the open cockpit.

By the time you're loaded onto the ramp, you hear Rossweisse addressing what must be the commander of the Jovian task force.

“I know we have entered Jovian space,” she tells the man. “We are investigating a series of...”

“Go back to wherever the hell you came from, lady!” the man barks.

“... disturbing incidents, and need to speak with your superiors on the Jovian council.”

“Council's not in charge here,” the man shoots back, “I am! You don't get out of our space we launch our mobile suits and take your ships!”
>3d10, best of four

Rolled 2, 1, 6 = 9 (3d10)

>>1839107
Charming fellow.

Rolled 1, 8, 6 = 15 (3d10)

>>1839107
This is all getting recording and rebroadcast? That we're not the ones shooting first, and we specifically are asking to be escorted to the Council, and this guy is saying that he doesn't recognize the legitimate government of the Jovian Empire?

Rolled 5, 9, 1 = 15 (3d10)

>>1839107

wow, a veritable plague of ones. Going to hold off on a reroll for now.

Rolled 1, 6, 8 = 15 (3d10)

rerolling

>>1839132
>>1839139
>>1839180
>15
Way too uncanny.

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>>1839180
>>1839132

>>1839132
>this guy is saying that he doesn't recognize the legitimate government of the Jovian Empire
I guess the Jovians aren't really as united as we think. Or the environment just breeds a sense of going with the wild west "rules".

>we launch our mobile suits and take your ships!
This line seems more fitting of a warlord or pirate. Maybe Cima should take a shot at verbally taking this guy down a peg?

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>>1839107
Alright, sounds like we need to defend ourselves.

“This is Captain Marseille, authorizing limited use of force,” you declare for the record as much as your teammates. “Do what you can to avoid lethal outcomes until I authorize it.”

“Well, you just added a degree of difficulty,” Haman sighs. “This thing doesn't do gentle.”

“You should be able to,” you challenge her. “Come on, is the little Zeon princess getting rusty?”

“You just wait and see,” she shoots back. “Unlike you I'm too young to be 'rusty' already.”

You allow yourself a chuckle as Sericea's catapult launches you out into the void. It takes you a moment to orient yourself, since the massive ball of gasses is the sort of distraction you're not used to having. Then you catch sight of Haman's new machine, and let out a low whistle.

It's so ugly that it's beautiful.

Most of its armor is red, with sparing black and white trim, and it appears to be descended from the old Barzam. That was a solid mobile suit from the Titans era, probably among the best general-purpose mobile suits to have been produced before the first Psychofield event. It's a little smaller than the old standard mobile suit size of course, and like your own Viola rebuild it seems to have used the Titans idea of secondary generators. But what stands out, aside from Haman's choice of a Zeon-styled head with a heavy command crest, are its weapons.

It carries a single medium-barreled beam gun with what appears to be wiring for a heat weapon... if you're seeing this right there's a cylindrical portion which runs underneath the rectangular shroud for the barrel's containment magnets, which tapers to a point. It looks like a heated pile bunker? In addition to beam sabers mounted on the inside of each wrist, ready to be released straight into the machine's hands, what looks like a chain mine is strapped around its waist and hips. Finally you notice the funnels... recharge racks both in a tail binder and built into the upper torso and shoulders. If you're seeing this right, there must be about two dozen of them.
>1/2

>>1839238
Don't get too envious, CC...

>>1839238
“I want one.”
I want one.

“No seriously,” you insist, “we need to get Nagato on options to mimic this.”

“Multiple small signatures detected at range fifteen thousand,” Rossweisse calls out as Haman's escorts sortie as well, in what appear to be four descendants of the old Zeta Gundam design lineage.

“They're closing.”

“Okay,” you sigh. “I guess we're doing this.”

“Let's see how sharp those skills of yours still are, Carrina,” Haman grins over your comms systems.

“And we'll get to see how well you wear the big-girl pants,” you joke in response as she lowers her helmet's polarized faceplate.

“Guess we will,” she admits, throttling her monster of a mobile suit up and darting with you towards the incoming wave of attackers. Side by side... god you're getting nostalgic just thinking about it.

>>1839268
>“I want one.”
>I want one.
CC pls.

>>1839268
And that's where we end for the time being, having sussed out the enemy forces and finally engaged. Thread's archived, thanks for stopping by, and hope you enjoyed!

I'm not 100% sure when I'll be able to continue, this week and the coming weekend are going to be a mess. So I'll try my best to keep you all posted on the Twitters.

>>1839276
Is it technically clothing envy for Catrina? I mean, the thought of shopping must've crossed her mind at some point.

>>1839278
Thanks for the run!

Also, just a question based on some idle speculation, but is the possession of multiple nuclear warheads a requirement for their plans to convert gas giants to mini-stars? It might explain the connection to that piece of plot thread.

>>1839312
To answer your question, no. The problem with Jupiter as a "failed star" is that the mass just isn't there. You'd need much greater density in order to start more or less stable fusion, so all of the nuclear warheads humanity has ever produced wouldn't be enough to trigger the process.

In this timeline, the "Psychofield" phenomenon which Char and Amuro first triggered in canon which bent the normal rules of physics is used to basically change the space ahead, creating what's been referred to in hypothetical scenarios as an "Alcubierre warp". The space ahead of Sericea essentially reaches negative energy-density, which would be impossible with conventional technology. It's a form of "cheating".

That same Psychofield, when generated by dozens of cyber-newtypes hooked into a single control mechanism, was intended to change density going the opposite direction, to increase density within a gas giant to the point of ignition as a stable dwarf star. Its lifespan would be short, but in theory it could be effectively colonized for long enough to extract resources from the surrounding system. But if you go to the same extreme as Carya and Rossweisse do to effectively move faster than light, but the opposite direction and with MORE newtypes... the result was catastrophe instead of a breakthrough. Turns out there IS such a thing as too much power.

So it should ALMOST go without saying, a hiatus is in effect for this week. I'll try and get back to work the weekend of the 16th.